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“What else do you see?”

“They all look focused. Almost mesmerized by their desire to perform their task. They’re working hard and constantly. No one is whipping them. There’s no one guiding them. But like a group of ants, they are all simply taking part in completing their individual tasks so that the main project is completed.”

“They’re working as a collective!” Sam said. “No one is giving or taking orders. They are all simply doing what they have been programed to do. They are working robotically as one.”

Zara looked through the glass and back at him. “Do you think they’re slaves?”

“It’s possible. The Master Builders have been known to use slaves before. They are also known to be perceived as Gods, and by standards of two or three thousand years ago, they certainly would have appeared as Gods by their ability to build things. I’ve never even considered the fact they might still be alive, and trying to rebuild another pyramid.”

“So you think this is a live image, not an ancient record?”

“We've encountered these looking glass devices before, and they always seem to be giving us views from far away, not long ago,” replied Sam.

Zara smiled. “A new person’s just entered the room. This one’s not like the others. Her genetic heritage is clearly different from the others.”

“In what way?” he asked. “Does she look to be leading them? Perhaps she’s one of the Masters?”

“No. She’s a worker just like the others. Her face is mesmerized by what she is doing, as though she is performing the work of the Gods. But she is slightly shorter than the other women, her complexion is much lighter than theirs, but not Caucasian either. She looks possibly Eurasian. While all of the men and women there look muscular, she appears more lithe and athletic. A different sort of bone structure. She’s wearing tan cargo shorts and a white tank top. She has a small tattoo of a pyramid above her right shoulder. Very pretty.”

“What, are you trying to set me up on a date?”

“No. Just giving you the facts.”

Sam smiled, patiently. “All right, can I see her?”

Zara moved out of the way for him. “Sure.”

He looked through the orb. The looking glass showed more than fifty people working in the large room. Some were men and others were women, but the entire group appeared homogenous. Every one of them appeared captivated by their work.

Not captivated, hypnotized.

“The pretty one’s gone,” Sam said.

“I thought you weren’t interested in a date?” she teased.

“I’m not. I was hoping I could work out where she’d come from. Then we might be able to find out where this temple is. Something here must have answers to the Nostradamus equation. If not I can’t see why Nostradamus sent us here.”

“He didn’t send us here. He saw a version of the future where I was here and I discovered the Nostradamus Equation.”

“Great.” Sam backed away from the device, making way for Tom. “You found the first looking glass in the submarine pyramid. That one had views of a number of different temples and ancient structures. Have you recognized anything about this one that we might use to determine where it is or why we were meant to find it?”

Tom shrugged. “I’ll see if I recognize anything, but ancient temples and pictography really isn’t my area of expertise.”

Zara said, “Try it. Anything at all that stands out.”

Sam watched as Tom placed his eye right up against the looking glass as though it were a telescope. He stared through it for a couple minutes. His eyes darting from left to right and then stopped. His eyes now fixed on one specific detail. His pupils dilated. The rise and fall of his chest increased in frequency, as though he’d seen something that terrified him.

Zara placed her hand on Tom’s shoulder. There was nothing sexual about it. A simple, nurturing gesture. “What did you see, Tom? Did that woman come back into view?”

“What is it, Tom?” Sam asked.

Tom stepped back from the looking glass. His eyes staring vacantly past both of them. There were beads of sweat forming on his forehead and blood had drained from his skin.

“Christ!” Zara was the first to work it out. “You recognize her, don’t you?”

“Yes.” Tom wrapped his arms around Zara, like a child. “Her name is Dr. Billie Swan — and not so long ago, I came very close to marrying her.”

Chapter Ninety-Six

The sound of blood gurgling filled Tom’s ears, as his heart raced. The sight of Billie had triggered a primal response, and a sudden release of adrenaline. He felt bile rising as his stomach churned; unsure whether he wanted to be sick or open his bowels. Slight tremors engulfed his normally still and hardened hands.

He looked at Sam. “That’s not Billie. She wanted to find the Master Builders, not be enslaved by them. They’ve done something to her and we need to help her.”

“Of course we do.” Sam’s mouth was slightly open, and his eyes uncomprehending. “I just don’t know where to start. That place could be anywhere.”

Tom stepped away from the orb. “What the hell have they done to her?”

Zara said, “She looks drugged.”

Tom asked, “How could she have let herself be drugged?”

“Maybe she isn’t?” Sam suggested. “Perhaps she’s pretending. You know she’s spent her entire adult life and a great portion of her childhood searching for the Master Builders. She was convinced that some still remained, and watched over us like Gods.”

Tom said, “We have to go after her!”

Zara asked, “What about the Nostradamus Equation?”

Tom swore. “Fuck the Nostradamus Equation. I’m out. All I want to do is to find her.”

“We need to find the equation, it’s more important than anything else,” Zara said. “I understand she means a lot to you — all of you, but you have to understand, if we don’t find the Nostradamus Equation, none of it will matter.”

Tom pounded the side of the pedestal with his open hand. “You can stay here and try and find the Nostradamus Equation. I’m leaving.”

Sam asked, “Where? You have no idea where to look! That temple could be anywhere on the planet!”

Tom’s jaw was set hard. His brown eyes violently determined as he said, “No. But we know someone who does.”

Sam looked at him. Swallowed. “You’re right. I think it’s time we visit the Vatican City.”

“And then I’m going to kill him!” Tom said, his voice full of vehemence.

“No, Tom. I believe you actually might, and then we’ll be no better off than we are now. So I have a suggestion. Why don’t you remain here and keep watching the looking glass, maybe you can work out how they’re controlling Billie. I’ll take Zara with me. We’ll reach the Vatican before close of business and bring HIM back here for answers.”

Tom shook his head. His instincts and duty were the only things keeping him grounded at all. “Okay.”

“Are you willing to come with me to the Vatican?” Sam looked at Zara. “I’ll explain why on the way.”

“Sure,” she said. Her eyes distant.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“What is it?” Sam persisted. “You look worried about something.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Say it.”

She shook her head, dismissively.

Sam said, “Just say it!”

Zara swallowed. “Did the future just try to lead us away from the Nostradamus Equation?”

Chapter Ninety-Seven

The Vatican City